Smitten Kitchen's Carrot Graham Layer Cake

I love Smitten Kitchen. This recipe came up this week on her Facebook page in time for me to make a dessert to take to an invited dinner. I also made simple Goat Cheese Ice Cream (no honey-thyme sauce or roasted cherries)  and added half a vanilla bean to the cooling custard. I'll bring just enough for a small scoop with the cake (and some to leave.)

Gerry couldn't find Graham cracker crumbs in the store, so brought home a box of crackers. About 6 crackers crumbed with a rolling pin or meat tenderizer made 3/4 cup with some to sprinkle on top.

Cake: Use 9-inch pans lined with 9-inch parchment rounds and spray with cooking spray. Next time, I will use 7-inch pans and make four layers for a pretty cake. 

Mix: 

• 1 cup of all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup finely ground graham cracker crumbs
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. fine sea salt or table salt
• 1-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• /4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp. ground ginger. 

 Set aside.

Place in a mixing bowl:

• 3/4 c. both granulated and dark brown sugars
• 3/4 cup PLUS 3 T. neutral oil or melted butter (I used Canola oil.)  

I mixed this with a hand mixer - the recipe calls for whisking together.  Add three eggs and mix some more. I learned the lesson to crack the eggs into a separate bowl or cup and NOT crack them individually into the bowl with the other ingredients. For perhaps the first time ever. I had a bad egg while baking (broken yolk and brownish color, but not terribly foul-smelling). I had to start over with all these ingredients (sugars, oil and eggs.)

When the eggs, oil and sugars are well-mixed, add 3 cups of shredded carrots and mix well with a spoon.

Mix in the flour mixture just until all the flour is mixed and none shows separately.

At this point, I had prepared the two pans I had and cut an extra 9-inch round of parchment.

I measured one heaping cup of batter into each of the two pans and another heaping cup into a separate bowl, trying to keep the batter as even as possible.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes. Sit the pans on racks to cool for 5 minutes and then turn out on the rack (slipping a knife along the edges.) Bake the third pan for the same 15-18 minutes.

Cool each layer and then frost, layering as you go. Sprinkle with extra graham cracker crumbs.

Frosting:

• 2 8-oz packages of cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup or two sticks of unsalted butter at room temp.
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Beat all four ingredients well with a mixer. Keep at room temperature to frost.